No Regrets
by pyrosaurus X
Summary: After the battle with Michalis, Marth is bewildered at Minerva's behavior towards the result. She remains strong and emotionless as ever, but maybe it's all just a facade? Possible Spoilers. Marth/Minerva- very close friendship


I've had this thought for about half a year, but every time I try to write an idea, it doesn't come out the way I want it to. However, I'm still happy with how this came out. Read and Review! And I don't own Fire Emblem. It is property of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems  
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_"But history needs to remember that when Macedon went astray, it was a Macedonian who set things right."_

Marth recalled his conversation with Minerva hours before the siege of the Macedonian Castle. It still didn't make sense to him of how Minerva could bring herself to fight against her own country...the country that her own ancestors ruled centuries before her. Marth knew that the woman had a cold, serious exterior, but surely she had to feel something?

He pondered these things as he watched Minerva and her brother going at each other in the skies. And just _how_ could she turn her axe against her own brother, her hero? Marth had to admit that it was impressive on how Minerva was able to keep herself composed throughout this. Maria certainly wasn't; the poor girl was screaming at the top of her lungs, pleading for her older siblings to stop fighting before one of them got hurt. It had gotten so bad, that Marth had to order the Whitewings to restrain the little Macedonian princess and escort her off the battlefield. There was nothing to do now but wait for the outcome. Minerva had specifically requested that she alone would face her brother, only falling back if the situation got out of hand. Since all the reinforcements were defeated, the only thing left was to seize the castle. Minerva swung her axe at Michalis's dragon, not wounding the creature, but enough to make it retreat a few yards. The two siblings were conversing with each other, but they were too high up for one to hear. Michalis thrusted his lance into Minerva's shoulder, only cracking the armor. Maybe it had been worse than it looked, for Minerva was pulling back. Marth stared intently and was about to give the order for someone, a Pegasus rider perhaps, to take down Michalis when Minerva suddenly bellowed a war cry and swung her axe, which dug into Michalis's abdomen. Michalis slumped in his saddle and without his grip on the reigns, he slid off his dragon's back and collided into the ground. He whispered something, an apology maybe? Finally he laid still as a board and closed his eyes. Marth's eyes traveled from the fallen king, then towards the sky where Minerva was still hovering. When he looked up, something splashed on his cheek. He brought a hand up to see what the liquid was. It wasn't blood dripping from Minerva's damaged shoulder, it was clear. A raindrop? But there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Nevertheless, he cast the thought aside and watched as Minerva descended and dismounted.

"Prince Marth, the castle is ours now." Minerva announced. She didn't seem unnerved by the fact that she just killed her own brother, but her voice had a certain dullness to it.

"Minerva, I don't know what to say..." Marth responded.

Minerva shook her head. "You don't have to say anything, Marth. He...he brought this on himself." Minerva glanced downwards and sighed. "Where's my sis..."

"Maria? We had to get her off the battlefield." Marth explained. "She was...rather hysterical."

Minerva nodded. "I understand. Are we...done for today?"

"Yes. We'll resume our journey tomorrow."

"Then, if it's all right with you, I'd like to take Maria with me to bury Michalis. Please...?"

"Of course..." Marth replied.

"Thank you." Marth watched as Minerva trudged off to find Maria. He was slightly confused though. He knew Minerva wasn't the type to show her emotions, but he'd figure her to be somewhat saddened by these series of events. Marth just sighed and gave the announcement that they would spend the night in the castle before departure. As expected, no one protested; it was much needed after all.

_"First Camus of Grust, now Michalis of Macedon. Men with such promising futures...now gone. Does Gharnef plan on using every single human being on earth as pawns for his own twisted ambitions?"_ Marth thought these things as he was laying in one of the guest bedrooms. He was angry...so angry. The problem was, he didn't know who to be angry at. The ignorance of the people to aid Dholr? Gharnef for poisoning the minds of men with his sugar-coated lies? Or himself for not being able to do anything to convince those people otherwise? In the end, he decided not to point the finger at anyone and swore under his breath."I will stop this. One day, this spiral of misery will be cut short by my hands. Too many people suffered enough from it..."

His thoughts traveled back to today's battle. It was a victory, but it felt like defeat. A country without a king, an army without a leader, two sisters without their brother. Michalis, Minerva, and Maria, such close siblings. It pained and guilted him to know that their relationship had to end like this. It was inevitable yet Marth somehow felt responsible for the way this had to be. If he could just sit Michalis down for a few moments to have a small chat with him…

Of course Minerva said he was a difficult man to reason with, but Marth thought that he would've changed his mind if either of his sisters had the chance to properly talk to him.

_"Even now, some part of me still loves him...I love him enough to spare him death on some stranger's sword, you see? Let him be punished by my hands."_

Marth heard Minerva's voice in his mind again. He just felt this sudden need to talk to her, but he didn't know what about. Something felt so wrong. How was she able to endure this? Marth knew that if he did the same with Elice, he'd probably be grieving nonstop. Of course he was pretty open with his emotions, unlike Minerva, but killing your own sibling HAD to have some toll on one's wellbeing.

"Maybe I'll just check on her, see how she's doing." Marth said to himself.

Without a second thought, he exited his room and went to Minerva's room, which was conveniently across the hall from his. Marth paused when he raised his fist to knock on the door. Minerva could be grieving right now, so there was no telling what would go down...or she could just simply be asleep. After a moment of hesitance, Marth rapped his knuckles softly on the door. He slightly jumped when he saw the doorknob turn, but regained his composure when Minerva revealed herself in the doorway. She still wore her armor though one of the shoulder pieces was missing, presumably the one that was cracked. Her expression looked tired and slightly annoyed, but other than that she showed no other emotion.

"Marth," she said. "What brings you here? Did you need anything?"

"I didn't wake you, did I?" Marth asked. Minerva shook her head. "Ah okay. I was just...wondering how you were doing."

"I'm fine. Is that all?"

"Actually I was wanting to talk with you, if you're all right with that."

Minerva looked at Marth, then glanced both ways down the hall. She doubted that a _certain someone_ would be pleased if she were to see Marth and Minerva by themselves, even if they were only talking.

"Caeda...wouldn't mind?" Minerva asked.

"It's not like we're doing anything beyond our friendship. I just wanted to talk."

Minerva contemplated her answer, then nodded and shifted her frame so Marth could enter.

"So, Marth," she whispered as she softly shut the door behind her. "What did you want to see me about?"

"Just about…Maria?" Marth paused and locked his attention on the small girl resting on one side of Minerva's bed.

"She didn't want to be alone tonight." Minerva replied. "She...cried herself to sleep."

"That bad, huh?" Marth sighed. "Minerva, I'm so sorry that things had to come down to this."

"Stop, Marth." Minerva's tone had some bite to it, causing the Altean prince to flinch. "Just, enough with the apologies. I already told you that Michalis made his decision final. There was nothing I could do to get him to join our resistance; this was the only way."

"Do you truly believe that?" Marth asked as calmly as he could. For some reason, he was always on the edge whenever he encountered Minerva's more feisty personality. "Do you truly believe that killing him was the only way to save Macedon?"

"His choice was clear. He was not going to listen to our pleads. He was our enemy."

"But he was still your brother."

Minerva fell silent, unsure of how to respond to that.

"Minerva," Marth continued. "Let me ask, do you regret killing your brother? I won't be unhappy with your answer."

Minerva thought for a moment, but then responded, "No. I have no regrets."

Marth was taken aback. "Care to...elaborate?"

"Allying with Dholr was a terrible mistake. It would eventually destroy our country, force our people into hellish oppression. As the princess of Macedon, I would not be able to bear with seeing that sort of future for her. And obviously, Michalis would shoulder all the blame. I'd rather my brother die, than to see Macedon and his name go up in flames. I don't regret fighting him, even though I didn't want to in the first place."

"But what about Maria?"

"What about her?"

"She loves you both. She hated to see the two of you fight. All she wanted was her family to be like it once was. Do you...regret taking that from her?"

Minerva sighed. "Maria is a child. She'd learn one day that sometimes situations like this can't be helped. All I want is her happiness and being the sole cause of her sorrow guilts me deeply, but I don't..."

Her voice trailed off and Marth opted to not press the subject further. There was one more thing still bothering him though...

"Minerva?"

"Yes, Marth?"

"Earlier, you referred to yourself as 'princess.' But with Michalis gone, wouldn't that make you the queen?"

Minerva gaped, but said in a soft, strained voice, "Unofficially, but I...suppose it would."

"Another thing. Minerva, I know you don't like expressing your emotions, even when you're by yourself, but you loved Michalis. Your closeness in your relationship with him was something to be desired by other siblings. You dreamt of being like him. To have that suddenly taken away, you must have had some sort of regret about killing him. Minerva, I'm sorry, but you're not really acting like this was a big deal, even though he meant the world to you. Minerva?"

The Macedonian princess, sitting on edge of her bed, had her head bent down with her hair covering her face. She anxiously played with her hands, and Marth swore he saw the slightest tremble of her body.

"Okay, Marth." Her voice was much quieter now, and Marth had to strain his ears to hear. "You...you got me. I admit, I didn't really kill Michalis. I just couldn't bring myself to take his life. I...flew to a nearby village that is almost completely deserted. I had Maria barely heal his outer wounds, but nothing else. Marth, I'm sorry."

She refused to meet his eyes, but Marth really wished she would see that he held no disappointment with her.

"Minerva..."

"Marth, if you scorn me for my weakness then I understand. Granted, the chance of Michalis surviving his inner wounds is very slim. But if he still lives, I take all responsibility of defying orders. If that is all, then you may leave."

"Minerva, I hold nothing against your actions." Marth took a seat next to her. "He was your brother...I would have done the same thing."

Minerva still didn't look up, but her shoulders relaxed as she breathed a sigh of relief. "Marth, I...that means a lot."

The two sat in silence for a while until Marth brought up another question.

"What kind of person was Michalis?"

Minerva looked up at him at this. "If you could see him in his youth, you'd be quite surprised. He was very intelligent, usually made all the right decisions. He never shied away from a challenge. All he wanted was to see Macedon rise to an even greater glory. But the most notable thing about him was his combat skills. He would win every tournament, pass on his tips to the veteran knights, and eventually taught those same skills to me. I admired him for it and I yearned for the day I could finally beat him in a spar. I never really won, but he would always be so proud of me. He would do anything for me..."

Minerva paused, then let out a weak, mirthless laugh. "Heh, what kind of sister am I, to turn my axe against him and then to leave him dying in some old house?"

"Minerva?"

Minerva stared at the ground again, resting her hands behind her head. "Marth, I'm sorry but I have to ask you to leave."

"Huh?"

"There's just a lot on my mind right now that I have to sort out. I just want to be alone for a while."

Marth didn't really feel like leaving Minerva in a state- he always wanted to help people the best he could- but he realized that she really needed this, so he obliged.

"All right." He responded. "I'm in the room across the hall if you need anything. Goodnight, Minerva."

"Goodnight, Marth." Minerva stood as Marth began to turn towards the door, her gaze never leaving the carpet. Marth, before he left, placed a hand on Minerva's unguarded shoulder to let her know that he was there for her. That touch was all it took.

His grip, strong and warm, reminded her of Michalis and she could no longer contain the guilt and despair from taking his life. She buried her face into her palms and began to weep, tears of anguish slipping through the cracks of her fingers. Never before had she felt so...empty. She still had Maria, yes, but she knew Michalis longer than her, had a stronger bond with him than her. Clearly she should be hurting the most. However she couldn't express it in front of her younger sister. The little girl had a big enough burden already, Minerva didn't want to place the responsibility of comforting her older sister on her shoulders. Michalis was usually the one that would shoulder some of the pain for her, but with him gone...

Minerva was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn't feel the hand on her shoulder move to her back until she got a face full of fabric. In that instant, Marth was filling the role for Michalis. His embrace wasn't the same, but it was very much appreciated.

"I'm so sorry, Marth." Minerva attempted to form words. "I'm never like this..."

"Shh, it's all right." Marth whispered in her ear. "We all have moments like this at one time or another. After what happened today, I think you have every right to release your emotions."

Minerva nodded against his shoulder, returning the embrace and continuing to cry out her misery. Marth obviously had no idea of what it was like having a sibling dead- let alone killing them- but he understood the pain of losing a loved one, and she welcomed that sympathy.

Finally after a few tear-filled minutes, Minerva pulled away, feeling slightly ashamed, but definitely content. Marth's arms fell limp to his sides and he waited for Minerva to say something as soon as she pulled herself together.

"Marth, I thank you for your kindness." Minerva said, brushing the remainder tears from her eyes. "I guess I didn't need to be alone."

"I'm glad to have helped a bit." Marth replied. He wished he could do more, but you can't rush the grieving process.

"I'll be ready to fight tomorrow."

"What? Are you sure?"

Minerva postured herself confidently and with determination. "Do you really expect me to stay here and cry my eyes out?" She smirked. "My brother is most likely dead; I accepted that. Yes, it will be a while for me to fully recover, but if I'm going to rule Macedon, then I need to show everyone that I'm not a weak royal, that I won't back down from any challenge no matter the circumstances. I want to become an example for my people, just like Michalis would want me to be."

Marth took a moment to judge her if she was actually ready. Her eyes still showed much pain, but her expression wasn't miserable anymore and she was no doubt serious about this. Typical Minerva.

Marth smiled. "Okay then. Together we will put an end this madness." He extended his hand towards her expectantly.

"Together." Minerva repeated and grasped his hand, giving it a vigorous shake. "Yes...together."


End file.
